Moving On
by Eliza4892
Summary: An alternate version of the spinoff. Addison decides that maybe she needs a change of scenery.


She'd known where Mark's hotel room was for some time now. Three rooms down on the right side. It was convenient when they were still sleeping together. It was less convenient that morning when she opened her door, ready to head in to work, only to watch some blonde with her shirt half buttoned (completely wrong at that) slip out of Mark's room, looking like she had a hangover that might rival most Addison had ever had. She squinted at the light, and closed the door as silently as possible.

Addison frowned, watching her look both ways, and then finally spot Addison, asking with a pleading look, "Do you know which way the exit is?"

"Down that hall, to the left," she gestured, "Take the elevator."

The woman nodded, and walked off the way Addison had directed her without a single word. Apparently Mark really had moved on.

It was then that she realized, deciding this was not the way she preferred to start her mornings, that perhaps she should move out of the hotel and into something more permanent.

---

"I need you to do me a favor." Addison said, by way of greeting her friend the next morning.

Callie didn't look up from the chart in front of her. "I'm not taking Karev as my intern today no matter how awkward it is between you two." When Addison didn't reply, the dark haired woman looked at her. "That wasn't it."

"No," Addison replied, "Although on second thought…" She just realized the prospect of dealing with him today, and tomorrow, and the rest of the week, didn't sound too enticing. Dealing with the guy who dumped her when they weren't even together in the first place wasn't exactly the most exciting thing she could be doing.

"So, what is it?" Callie asked, handing off the chart to the nurse behind the desk, and putting her attention back on Addison.

"I need you to go apartment hunting with me." Addison said, after a moment.

Callie lowered her eyebrows, a smile pulling at her lips. "That has got to be the oddest request I've heard in awhile." Addison gave her a look that resembled a glare. "I thought you were perfectly fine living in the hotel."

"I was until college girls started filtering out of Mark's room." Addison told her, brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"College girls?"

Addison shrugged. "It's a guess. A reasonable guess though. Point is, that is the last thing I need or want to see in the morning. So, apartment."

Callie nodded, "Interesting. And when would this so called apartment shopping be?"

"I'm thinking Friday. I don't have anything scheduled."

Callie looked to be sorting through her schedule in her mind, tapping her fingers absentmindedly against the smooth surface she leaned against. Finally, she gave in. "What the hell. It's better than watching my husband and Stevens do…whatever it is they do."

---

"So I told her to back off. I did the whole 'I can't compete but I want my husband back' routine. And they're still attached at the hip." Callie said, with a sigh.

"Really?" Addison asked, looking out the large window that spanned from the ceiling to the floor, overlooking the water. This was the sixth apartment they'd been to, and it definitely wouldn't be the last. Nothing was catching her attention. "I saw them in the gallery yesterday and all Stevens looked like she wanted to do was bolt out of there."

"They were smiling and laughing in the elevator this morning." Callie informed her, face contorting like she had a sour taste in her mouth. "See around her he's all happy go-lucky but when he comes home at night he's the sad kicked puppy dog again. I just kind of wonder what the hell I'm doing wrong."

Addison almost told her that her description of George sounded just like Derek back when he was spending his time flirting with Meredith during the day and coming home to her and bad sex at night. Almost. She didn't feel like bringing Callie down any further than she was already. Instead she opted for reassurance, "You're not doing anything wrong. I mean they're friends right?"

"Best friends," Callie replied bitterly.

"Some people are like that," Addison said, lying through her teeth. Just friends. She remembered Derek claiming the same thing about him and Meredith.

"Okay, you don't even believe what you're saying now," Callie told her, seeing right through her without a moments pause. Addison didn't even bother to defend herself because there was no point. The other woman shook her head, in an attempt to clear her mind and return to the matter at hand. "So, what do you think about this one?"

"It's um…" Addison grappled forwards. "It would make a nice art gallery."

Callie grinned, "That's a big no."

"Yeah," she replied, sheepishly. "I'd like a little more privacy. And space." She looked back over the apartment again, noting that while the living area was huge, the bedroom was about the size of the one in Derek's trailer. That was not happening again. "Sorry about dragging you all over Seattle."

"It's no big deal," Callie brushed it off with a wave of a hand. "I'd rather be here than the hospital. But, you know, maybe this would be easier if you had a clearer idea of what you were looking for."

"Well obviously I want something close to the hospital. But not too close. Something bigger than this; I need room to breathe. Not so many windows because what's the point of having a view when all it does is rain." As if proving her point, grey clouds loomed in the sky, a sure sign of evening showers.

"Yeah, well, if you're looking for nice weather then Seattle is definitely not the place to be." Callie said, with a smile and a shake of her head. But Addison didn't laugh, in fact she didn't do anything, she just stared straight ahead. "What?"

It was that moment when it finally occurred to Addison why she couldn't find an apartment she liked.

"I don't want to stay here."

"Okay, well what other places were you looking at?" Callie asked, plucking the newspaper cutout from next to Addison's purse, scanning it to find the other highlighted areas. Addison watched her, crossing her arms and clearing her throat none too subtly. Callie looked up, slow realization spreading across her features. "You're not talking about this building are you?"

Addison just nodded, solemnly.

---

"Chief can I talk to you?" She stopped Richard in the hallway right outside of his office. It was late in the day, nobody would be bugging him or vying for his attention and so nobody would see or hear her. When he looked at her expectantly, she added, "In your office."

"Alright," he replied, pushing open the door and waiting for her to step inside. She did so, sitting down in the chair across from his desk. "What can I do for you Addison?"

Addison chewed at her lower lip nervously, trying to find some way to sugarcoat it. She came up blank. "There's really no easy way to put this so I'm just going to say it. I'm moving to Los Angeles at the end of the month."

Richard sat back in his chair, frowning deeply. "Is something wrong?"

"No," she answered automatically, rethinking it when he raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Yes, but none I really feel at liberty to discuss. Point is I've got friends from med school there and I just really feel like it would be a better place for me personally and professionally."

He nodded slowly, eyeing her and making this feel more like the principal's office than she'd like. "And there's nothing I can say or do to make you stay?"

Firmly, Addison shook her head, gaining more confidence now. "No, there isn't."

"Well then I can assure you that you will be sorely missed by this hospital." She looked down, so he couldn't see the doubt in her eyes. "And I wish you luck."

---

"Last day jitters?" Callie asked, as she caught up with Addison, handing her a cup of coffee.

"Shh," Addison whispered, "I don't want the entire hospital to know."

Callie frowned, "Why not?"

"Because I'm not…" she paused, too embarrassed to admit she didn't want to deal with any awkwardness between her and Derek, or Mark, or Alex. "I'm not very good at goodbyes."

"You and me both." Callie replied, nudging her gently with her elbow. Addison could see the dismay on her face, just as unhappy about losing a friend as Addison was. "So when do you leave?"

"I'm packing tonight and then I'm tossing my stuff in the car and driving down first thing in the morning." Addison told her, already wondering how she would fit all her stuff in the car.

"You'll call me?"

Addison smiled. "Of course. I'll need someone to get the good gossip from."

Callie gave her a small nod. "Okay, good." For a moment there was uncomfortable silence between the two of them, a new experience, before Callie broke it, interjecting, "Now come on, just seven more hours left."

---

Nine hours after that Addison was folding clothes neatly and putting them into her various suitcases. For the first time she was glad she hadn't completely unpacked since moving out of the trailer.

The ringing phone interrupted the process. "Hello?"

"Hey," Callie's voice sounded strange, devoid of any emotion whatsoever and Addison subconsciously looked to the ceiling, like she could see upstairs and into Callie's room a few rooms away from hers, wondering what was wrong.

"I thought we weren't doing goodbyes." Addison said, recalling the decision they'd made earlier in the day.

"We don't have to." Callie replied, with a hint of finality in her voice.

Suspiciously, she asked, "Why?"

"Because I'm coming with you."

---

Callie was knocking at the door five minutes later with two very heavy looking suitcases which she deposited on the large comfy chair in the corner of the room nearly as soon as Addison let her in. The rims of her eyes were faintly pink like she was either very tired or had been crying.

"What's going on?" Addison asked, concerned, wondering why the woman had changed her plans.

"My husband had sex with Izzie Stevens," she replied as she collapsed on the edge of the bed. "That's what's going on."

Addison's jaw dropped a little, suddenly understanding why Izzie had claimed to have slept with the wrong man. Thankfully, Callie didn't notice that this was anything more than a reaction to the news, and Addison decided it was better to keep this to herself to prevent any arguments and doubts about whether or not she should've picked up on what was really going on and told Callie.

"So I figured what the hell, I might as well just go with you. George won't notice anyway he's so fixated on Izzie, and it's not like money is really an issue." A shadow of worry passed over her face, "If that's alright with you that is."

"Yeah, of course. Just one thing," Addison began, watching Callie raise her eyebrows and nod for her to get on with it. "You got to help me find a way to fit all of this stuff," she motioned to both her and Callie's luggage, "into a convertible with a relatively small trunk."

---

And so at six in the morning they piled into Addison's red convertible, stuffed with suitcases until she was surprised the trunk would even close, and drove off to Los Angeles, both moving on and both relieved to have someone to do it with.


End file.
